This study explores the interactions of four Liberian youth with the public education system in Ontario since their arrival as refugees. Using life histories developed with each participant, I have sought to understand and engage with the ways that these students negotiate their social and personal identities within the context of the majority discourses and practices of education in Ontario. By foregrounding the experiences and voices of the participants, it becomes possible to critically analyze the power relations that exist both to limit and empower these youth as they navigate their social and educational contexts. It becomes clear in the life histories that society’s dominant discourses of normalcy work to ignore or make irrelevant the complex identities that these youth inhabit and exhibit in their daily lives. However, they creatively exercise their individual agency to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities they feel are available to them in Canada.

This study explores the interactions of four Liberian youth with the public education system in Ontario since their arrival as refugees. Using life histories developed with each participant, I have sought to understand and engage with the ways that these students negotiate their social and personal identities within the context of the majority discourses and practices of education in Ontario. By foregrounding the experiences and voices of the participants, it becomes possible to critically analyze the power relations that exist both to limit and empower these youth as they navigate their social and educational contexts. It becomes clear in the life histories that society’s dominant discourses of normalcy work to ignore or make irrelevant the complex identities that these youth inhabit and exhibit in their daily lives. However, they creatively exercise their individual agency to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities they feel are available to them in Canada.

This dissertation is a qualitative case study of three homeschooling families. Because of the relative recentness of homeschooling as a widespread educational option for parents and because of the relatively few students participating in homeschooling, educators and others interested in this approach may benefit from the close qualitative consideration of homeschooling families of differing sizes, economic statuses, educational backgrounds, and other demographic differences. The primary research methodology for this dissertation is extensive and comprehensive interviews with three practicing homeschool families selected primarily because of their willingness to participate in the intensive interview process for this dissertation. The literature reviewed and the research questions considered include information about the estimated number of homeschooled students currently in the United States, the rationale behind parents’ choice to homeschool, a review of the basic demographics of homeschoolers, the legal and professional educators’ opinions about homeschooling, the instructional methods and curricular materials of homeschoolers, the academic achievement of homeschooled students, and the eventual college and career success of homeschooled students. The dissertation found that, while homeschooling parents would agree with much of the literature available to describe them, there were emphases and challenges to homeschooling that have not been fully studied and are applicable to individual families. / Department of Educational Leadership

This work attempts to achieve two overarching objectives: firstly to trace the historical growth of Islamic schools in North America and secondly, to explore the ideological and philosophical values that have shaped the vision of these schools. The historical growth of Islamic schools in North America has been led by two distinct communities among Sunni Muslims: the indigenous and the immigrant. Specific to the North American Muslim diaspora “indigenous” represents the African American Muslim community of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed (1933-2008), and “immigrant” refers to the generation of Sunni Muslims who settled in North America in the 1960s and 1970s. Through oral history, this study attempts to capture the voices, sentiments, and aspirations of those that struggled to establish the earliest full-time Islamic schools. The study examines these voices for the ways Islamic education is defined differently based on generational, contextual, and ideological perspectives. Recognizing the diverse lived experiences of Muslim communities in North America, the findings are organized in four distinct, yet often overlapping historical phases that map the growth and development of Islamic schooling. The four phases of Protest, Preservation, Pedagogy, and Praxis also represent how the aims of Islamic education have evolved over time. From the Nation of Islam and their inherent vision of equality through resistance, the earliest attempt at establishing schools for Muslim children began in the 1930s. The transition of the Nation of Islam into a community redefined by the teachings of mainstream Islam coupled with the settlement of substantial immigrant Muslim communities altered the discourse from protest to identity preservation in the 1980s. Collaboration between the “indigenous” and “immigrant” communities defined a concerted effort to improve the quality of Islamic schools in the 1990s. And post 9/11, the discourse of inward-looking school improvement shifted once again to outward praxis. The historical mapping of the vision of Islamic schooling between communities also allows for the exploration of how interpretations of the Islamic tradition inform the pedagogy of schools. Through separate histories and religious perspectives, this study seeks to explore the complexities of the aims of Islamic schools, both between communities and within them.

Doctor of Education (EdD) / Increasingly the Australian educational environment in which schools find themselves is one where schools are expected to achieve successes for their students and furthermore allow their successes or lack thereof to be compared with ‘transparency’ against the successes of other schools. The overriding principle expected from the politicians and society in general is one of providing parents with the best information possible on which they will be able to base their decision as to which school will be the best for their children. This notion is noble and honourable, one at which little criticism can be levelled. However, as researchers in the ‘Effective Schools’ and ‘Improving Schools’ research fields have discussed for decades, measuring the effectiveness of schools is not an easily achievable goal. It is far too easy to fall into the trap of using simplistic and narrow measures that supposedly allow easy comparisons. This study takes the view, as does most research to date, that univariable measures of school effectiveness are fatally flawed. The current trend in many western nations to simply compare the academic success of schools, however that might be measured, does little to measure the effectiveness of schools. What is most concerning is the growing trend of creating league tables of comparison and in some educational systems to use such tables to determine school funding. Equally disturbing is the amount of research that seeks to examine what students consider important in an effective school. There is a great deal of research on what characteristics parents, teachers, politicians and other key stakeholders consider an effective school to have but extraordinarily there is comparably very little research on what students consider important. This study seeks to somewhat address this inadequacy by measuring what students in their senior years of schooling in a single independent school in New South Wales, Australia perceive to be appropriate and useful measures of effective schooling. In so doing this research also examined if in the students’ minds their current school is effective and most significantly examines why students hold the views they have concerning effective schools. In order to achieve this aim, this study took a qualitative research approach to discover Student Perceptions of Effective Schooling. The theoretical orientation adopted was to both verify current theory of effective schooling as well as suggest possible developments, modifications and improvements to current theory in light of the students’ perceptions. As such both inductive and deductive analysis of the data took place. The data was collected using a range of methods from traditionally quantitative research tools, such as surveys, through to the qualitative research tool of focus groups. The results of this study demonstrated that while the current research has developed a good multivariable approach to measuring school effectiveness there were significant areas the students believed needed greater or lesser emphasis. The importance of technically good teachers, separate from the need for good and caring teachers, as well as the need for schools to be safe places were all important measures of effective schools. The ability of the school to engage students outside the classroom and provide a relevant and diverse academic curriculum was also considered essential for effective schooling.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2007.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 2001. / Title from title page screen, viewed March 17, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Elizabeth Lugg (chair), Diane Ashby, Paul Baker, Rand Burnette. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-85) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 160 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-129).

A presente pesquisa tem por objetivo inscrever um litoral, uma interface entre os campos da educação especial, da socioeducação e da pesquisa acadêmica, oportunizando, de um lado, a investigação acerca da escolarização de adolescentes acautelados na Fundação de Atendimento Socioeducativo do Rio Grande do Sul (FASE/RS) e, de outro lado, a reflexão aprofundada sobre a escolarização para aqueles com deficiência, especialmente os que apresentam impasses em sua estruturação psíquica. O estudo foi realizado entre os meses de março e maio de 2017, na Escola Estadual de Ensino Médio Senador Pasqualini, localizada no Centro de Atendimento Socioeducativo Padre Cacique, em Porto Alegre/RS. Os seguintes questionamentos norteiam esta pesquisa: como se configura a escolarização de adolescentes que cometem atos infracionais e cumprem uma medida socioeducativa de internação? Dentre os acautelados, há adolescentes considerados da educação especial? Dentre estes, há sujeitos que apresentam impasses em sua estruturação psíquica? Como se estabelecem as relações entre a educação especial e a socioeducação? Trata-se, portanto, de uma pesquisa exploratória, de base qualitativa, em que os procedimentos de pesquisa e análise se sustentaram nos fios éticos da psicanálise, principalmente, no reconhecimento do sujeito em sua singularidade; na possibilidade de criar e preservar espaços de fala e escuta; no entendimento de que aquilo que se fala a respeito do outro é constitutivo das possibilidades de ser e estar no mundo. Entre o texto da lei e a vida na escola, percebemos que as formas organizativas do trabalho pedagógico (a organização curricular, os tempos e os espaços escolares) procuram singularizar o fazer docente, borrando os atos infracionais, a favor da condição de aluno e de professor. No que se refere ao diálogo entre áreas, apesar de o litoral estar posto nos documentos legais, não encontramos formalizada a presença de adolescentes com deficiência que cumprem medida de internação. O silêncio, entretanto, é ruidoso. Através de Marino, um jovem aluno da Escola Senador Pasqualini, encontramos inúmeras alusões e hipóteses sobre o desempenho escolar, capazes de justificar o encaminhamento para o atendimento educacional especializado. O ato infracional, contudo, borra a condição de uma possível deficiência e apaga o direito a recursos previstos, potencialmente eficazes para sustentar o aprender. / The main objective of the present research is to inscribe a coastline, an interface between the fields of special education, social education and academic research propitiating, on one side, the inquiry concerning the schooling of adolescents incarcerated at the Foundation of Social Education Service in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (FASE/RS) and, on the other side, the deepened reflection on the schooling for those with impairments, especially the ones who present impairments in their psychic structure. The study was carried out between March and May 2017 at Senador Pasqualini High School located at the Padre Caquice Social Education Service Center in the city of Porto Alegre/RS. The following questionings guide this research: How is the schooling of adolescents who commit infractions and fulfill social educational measure of incarcaration configured? Amongst the incarcerated ones, are there adolescents who need special education? Amongst those, are there ones who present impairments in their psychic structure? How are the relations between special education and social education established? This is, therefore, an exploratory research of qualitative base where research procedures and analyses have been supported in the ethics of psychoanalysis, mainly, in the recognition of the subject in his/her singularity; in the possibility of creating and preserving spaces of listening and speaking; in the understanding that what is said in regard to the other is constituent of the possibilities of being in the world. Between the law and the life at school, we perceive that organizational forms of pedagogical work (curriculum organization, times and spaces in school) look for making the teacher’s role singular and erasing the infractional acts in favor of the teacher-student condition. As for the dialogue among the areas, although a coastline is present in legal documents, we did not find formally the presence of impaired adolescents who are currently fulfilling measures of incarceration. Silence, however, is noisy. Through Marino, a juvenile student at Senador Pasqualini School, we could find countless alusions and hypotheses on school performance which are capable of justifying the guiding for specialized educational service. Infractional acts, however, smudge the condition of a possible impairment and erase the right to legal resources, potentially efficient to support the learning process.

A presente pesquisa tem por objetivo inscrever um litoral, uma interface entre os campos da educação especial, da socioeducação e da pesquisa acadêmica, oportunizando, de um lado, a investigação acerca da escolarização de adolescentes acautelados na Fundação de Atendimento Socioeducativo do Rio Grande do Sul (FASE/RS) e, de outro lado, a reflexão aprofundada sobre a escolarização para aqueles com deficiência, especialmente os que apresentam impasses em sua estruturação psíquica. O estudo foi realizado entre os meses de março e maio de 2017, na Escola Estadual de Ensino Médio Senador Pasqualini, localizada no Centro de Atendimento Socioeducativo Padre Cacique, em Porto Alegre/RS. Os seguintes questionamentos norteiam esta pesquisa: como se configura a escolarização de adolescentes que cometem atos infracionais e cumprem uma medida socioeducativa de internação? Dentre os acautelados, há adolescentes considerados da educação especial? Dentre estes, há sujeitos que apresentam impasses em sua estruturação psíquica? Como se estabelecem as relações entre a educação especial e a socioeducação? Trata-se, portanto, de uma pesquisa exploratória, de base qualitativa, em que os procedimentos de pesquisa e análise se sustentaram nos fios éticos da psicanálise, principalmente, no reconhecimento do sujeito em sua singularidade; na possibilidade de criar e preservar espaços de fala e escuta; no entendimento de que aquilo que se fala a respeito do outro é constitutivo das possibilidades de ser e estar no mundo. Entre o texto da lei e a vida na escola, percebemos que as formas organizativas do trabalho pedagógico (a organização curricular, os tempos e os espaços escolares) procuram singularizar o fazer docente, borrando os atos infracionais, a favor da condição de aluno e de professor. No que se refere ao diálogo entre áreas, apesar de o litoral estar posto nos documentos legais, não encontramos formalizada a presença de adolescentes com deficiência que cumprem medida de internação. O silêncio, entretanto, é ruidoso. Através de Marino, um jovem aluno da Escola Senador Pasqualini, encontramos inúmeras alusões e hipóteses sobre o desempenho escolar, capazes de justificar o encaminhamento para o atendimento educacional especializado. O ato infracional, contudo, borra a condição de uma possível deficiência e apaga o direito a recursos previstos, potencialmente eficazes para sustentar o aprender. / The main objective of the present research is to inscribe a coastline, an interface between the fields of special education, social education and academic research propitiating, on one side, the inquiry concerning the schooling of adolescents incarcerated at the Foundation of Social Education Service in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (FASE/RS) and, on the other side, the deepened reflection on the schooling for those with impairments, especially the ones who present impairments in their psychic structure. The study was carried out between March and May 2017 at Senador Pasqualini High School located at the Padre Caquice Social Education Service Center in the city of Porto Alegre/RS. The following questionings guide this research: How is the schooling of adolescents who commit infractions and fulfill social educational measure of incarcaration configured? Amongst the incarcerated ones, are there adolescents who need special education? Amongst those, are there ones who present impairments in their psychic structure? How are the relations between special education and social education established? This is, therefore, an exploratory research of qualitative base where research procedures and analyses have been supported in the ethics of psychoanalysis, mainly, in the recognition of the subject in his/her singularity; in the possibility of creating and preserving spaces of listening and speaking; in the understanding that what is said in regard to the other is constituent of the possibilities of being in the world. Between the law and the life at school, we perceive that organizational forms of pedagogical work (curriculum organization, times and spaces in school) look for making the teacher’s role singular and erasing the infractional acts in favor of the teacher-student condition. As for the dialogue among the areas, although a coastline is present in legal documents, we did not find formally the presence of impaired adolescents who are currently fulfilling measures of incarceration. Silence, however, is noisy. Through Marino, a juvenile student at Senador Pasqualini School, we could find countless alusions and hypotheses on school performance which are capable of justifying the guiding for specialized educational service. Infractional acts, however, smudge the condition of a possible impairment and erase the right to legal resources, potentially efficient to support the learning process.